HILTON HEAD ISLAND, South Carolina — Kevin Streelman, Charley Hoffman and rookie Steve LeBrun were tied for the RBC Heritage lead, and Brandt Snedeker was on the verge of missing the cut when Friday’s second round was suspended for the day because of rain.

Conditions worsened throughout the day and 17 players were unable to finish at Harbour Town Golf Links. They will resume Saturday morning.

Streelman, who had his first career tour victory at the Tampa Bay Championships last month, shot a 70 to join Hoffman (70) and LeBrun (68) at 6 under.

Luke Donald (68) and Bill Haas (69) were a stroke back.

The biggest surprise was Snedeker, at No. 5 the highest-ranked player in the field. Days after leading the Masters on Sunday before faltering, the 2011 Harbour Town winner opened with a 73 and had a 71 Friday to finish at 2 over — one over the projected cut line.

Streelman had three birdies in his first four holes. He added a final birdie on the par-5 15th and parred out to move on top and put himself in contention on the tricky, narrow fairways and small greens of Harbour Town.

Streelman’s life hasn’t changed much since the victory in Tampa Bay, just his approach to the game.

“I do feel a bit freer to be in the position I am, say, in a week like this,” he said. “Because I’m not worried about a top 10 or a top 5 or keep your card. And I can just go out and try and win a golf tournament.”

Hoffman, seeking his third PGA Tour career victory and first since 2010, closed with birdies on his final two holes, the eighth and the ninth, to catch Streelman.

“It feels good to get the blood flowing a little bit and have a chance on Sunday,” he said. “Would like to make a bunch of birdies and pull away, but it usually doesn’t happen out here.”

After graduating from college in 2000, LeBrun played golf’s mini tours and Triple-A circuits until earning his PGA Tour card at qualifying school last autumn. It has taken time, he said, to adjust to the harder courses and uptick in competition. LeBrun’s missed the cuts in five of his eight events on tour this year and hasn’t finished higher than 24th at the Puerto Rico Open last month.

“It feels good,” he said. “It’s one of those things I always knew I had the game to be out here and I plan on being in this position a lot of times,” he said.

The RBC Heritage featured 14 of the world’s top 29 in the field, including three in the top 10 in Snedeker, Donald (No. 6) and Matt Kuchar (No. 9) during a week that’s generally a time for the game’s best to decompress after the Masters. Several, like Masters champ Adam Scott and world Nos. 1 and 2 in Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, are doing just that.

Windier conditions late in the round kept opening-round leaders from going lower. Brian Davis, who led with a first-round 65, was 5 over on his first nine holes Friday to fall back with a 75.

Masters contender Jason Day also couldn’t capitalize after a strong 4-under start Thursday. Day, tied for third at the Masters, had three bogeys on his first 10 holes on the way to a 73.

U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson shot even par to stay three shots behind at 3 under. Marc Leishman, who tied for fourth at Augusta National, had his troubles, too — he sailed an approach shot on No. 9 that struck a woman in the grandstands — yet recovered for a 71 and remained two shots behind.

Posting a comment to our website allows you to join in on the conversation. Share your story and unique perspective with members of the azcentral.com community.

Comments posted via facebook:

► Join the Discussion

azcentral.com has switched to the Facebook comment system on its blogs. Existing blog comments will display, but new comments will only be accepted via the Facebook comment system. To begin commenting, you must be logged into an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. While we welcome you to join conversations, readers are responsible for their comments and abuse of this privilege will not be tolerated. We reserve the right, without warning or notification, to remove comments and block users judged to violate our Terms of Service and Rules of Engagement. Facebook comments FAQ

Join thousands of azcentral.com fans on Facebook and get the day's most popular and talked-about Valley news, sports, entertainment and more - right in your newsfeed. You'll see what others are saying about the hot topics of the day.